Archive for February, 2016

How hard is it to make a piece of material look like a crinkly cactus blossom? Very Hard! And Mary Fitzgibbons has succeeded in bringing us the texture and essence of a bloom which will last a day or two and then be gone. Fabric art about the weird cacti family is one of her special talents.

Saguaro Journey

The Saguaro year-long journal quilt takes us through the green-rainy season on to the parched-land season and the steps in between. Sometimes the Saguaro is plump with stored water and then it gradually becomes thinner and thinner. A creative concept executed with verve! These plants have adaptability in spades.

One Love

With stars in their eyes this couple marry and dance toward the future with lighthearted gaiety. He from the United States and she from Venezuela —“Two Countries – Two Hearts – ONE Love” . It is based on a Frida Kahlo painting. Fabric ART indeed! Mary Fitz has such a delicious way with color, pattern, and 3D flowers – it makes the heart sing.

The Candidate

Look at this celebration of a graduation at Stanford University in California. Love the symbolism, the palms, and the wonderful face of the graduate. Fabric ART Forever !!

An intriguing thought – a steak from cattle who have been fed on oranges, grapefruit, watermelons, corn meal and minerals! The Tractor Club at VP in Texas has arranged for us to tour a 700 acre ranch where Giovanna Benitez will show us how she uses the abundant fruit in the area to feed her cattle and fatten them up for market. She shows us the hay, ground up fruit, and supplements which are put in giant white tubes to be turned into acceptable feed. A long process involving her 5 workmen and big equipment, her explanations, as she leads a drive around the ranch, are excellent and the members of the club are impressed with this 22 year-old woman (the youngest rancher in the area) who is innovating this feed and hopefully will succeed in making her ranch profitable. She explains that if you buy cattle at $1.65 a lb. (as she did) and sell it at $1.37 a lb. ( the current price) you can innovate away and go broke. All my tour mates and I are crossing our fingers that the price will rise and Giovanna will sell at $2.00 a lb. Good Luck, Giovanna!!